F1 Event

Florence Eshalomi: It was recently reported that there are plans for an F1 motoring event to take place in London and the Mayor has given support for it. Given all the restrictions and penalties about to be imposed on diesel car owners, and the valid concerns regarding air quality, why is the Mayor supporting such an event in the London area?

The Mayor: London is always open to hosting the world’s biggest and best sport events – from the final of UEFA Euro 2020 to the NFL, and the Cricket World Cup to Major League Baseball.
I believe that it should be possible to organise a race in London in the future and have asked my officials to explore what the options might be with F1. F1 races take place over the course of three days. F1 have already been clear that if a race were to take place in London, it would not be in central London.
As you have acknowledged, London’s toxic air is a national public health crisis. I am doing all I can to improve the air Londoners breath. This includes implementing the boldest and most ambitious plans to reduce air pollution anywhere in the world.
We know the toxic air in London is caused by road transport, commercial and domestic buildings, river, aviation, industrial and construction emissions. Around half of these toxic emissions are caused by road transport and central London has many of the worst pollution hotspots.
I know F1 is committed to continuing to improve their engines to reduce emissions and make their races even more sustainable. Their cars feature the latest engine technology which improves year on year. Given the technology changes so quickly, even if a race were to take place in London, it is impossible for us to currently say what the emissions from F1 cars would be in the future.
The latest F1 cars are some of the most energy efficient in the world. In 2014, F1A introduced new hybrid powertrains engines which consist of a 1.6 litre V6 turbo-hybrid. This is most efficient hybrid in the world, with thermal efficiency of 50%. To put the efficiency of the engines into context, a normal road car operates at 30% thermal efficiency.
The engine technology F1 has pioneered over the years has been consistently adopted by car manufactures and is now used in millions of road cars worldwide (examples include Thermal and Kinetic energy recovery systems, as well as advanced batteries and battery monitoring systems, and highly efficient electric motors).